County of Empúries

Origins

The county took its name from the ancient Greek city of Emporion and was created by the Franks in the early 9th century within the Marca Hispanica. From the later 9th century it was held with Roussillon by the descendants of Count Sunyer, until the two were separated in 991.

Rule and society

The counts moved their seat from Sant Martí d'Empúries to Castelló d'Empúries, where they built a large Gothic church. The county controlled the fertile Empordà plain and a coastline exposed to Viking and Saracen raids. Its counts were often in conflict with the counts of Barcelona and the bishops of Girona, while remaining vassals of the House of Barcelona.

Decline and legacy

After centuries of semi-independence, the county was absorbed into the royal domain of the Crown of Aragon in 1402. The title later passed to branches of the royal family and then to the Dukes of Segorbe and Medinaceli.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.